Activist investor wants Campbell to axe entire board

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13 September 2018

Activist investor Daniel Loeb, founder and CEO of Third Point, has launched a proxy fight to replace the entire Campbell Soup board.

Loeb called the company’s recent strategic review “disappointing,” and sent a letter to chair Les Vinney, saying “the time has come to refresh the recipe.” Loeb pointed to the company’s share price, currently 20 per cent below where it was 20 years ago, calling the poor performance a “report card on this board’s tenure of mismanagement, waste, ill-conceived strategy and inept execution.” He said that years of badly chosen and executed acquisitions had left the company with limited options to repair the damage, and cited the “shocking failure” to have a CEO succession plan in place when Denise Morrison abruptly quit as CEO in May.

Campbell Soup responded by saying it would review Third Point’s list of proposed board nominees and draw up a list of its own recommendations.